Sunday, August 30, 2015

Now
that the landscaping is growing in, this development at West 16th and
Granville is much more accepted by the Shaughnessy neighbourhood

Every time I drive by Granville Street
and West 16th Avenue in Shaughnessy, I think about the three-year battle that
preceded approval of the attractive townhouse development overlooking the
intersection.

I have similar thoughts driving by
Cambie Street and West 33rd, Larch Street just south of West 39 Avenue, and the
2000 block Esquimalt in West Vancouver.

In each location, neighbourhood
residents vigorously opposed projects that are now completed and occupied. They
could offer important lessons on how best to deal with neighbourhood concerns
related to future developments.

The Shaughnessy townhouses were
designed by James Bussey of Formwerks Architecture and developed by Arthur Bell
Holdings.

At the time, some residents feared
city approval would encourage future townhouses and highrise buildings
threatening the character of historic Shaughnessy. They also worried the
project would increase noise, traffic and stress levels.

Not everyone opposed the development.
Since it included restoration of the historic Nichol Mansion, the Vancouver
Heritage Commission congratulated the developer for trying to save an important
heritage building.

When the property’s trees were first
cut down and construction began, I, too, worried about the project. I suggested
to the developer that he put up an illustration to show what the completed
development would look like, so neighbouring residents would not lose any more
sleep.

Fast forward to today. The landscaping
has grown in. Along with many Shaughnessy residents, I no longer have the same
concerns. The development is an attractive and appropriate design for the site,
offering new housing choices for nearby residents.

Moreover, concerns about future
highrises and a loss of neighbourhood character are unlikely to materialize
since city council is now expected to approve a heritage strategy for
Shaughnessy that will save all pre-1940s housing in the neighbourhood.

Developer Brian Bell is also happy
with how the project turned out and pleased that, as he predicted, many homes
sold to local residents impressed with the project’s quality and attention to
detail.

Art Cowie's fee-simple row houses as viewed along Cambie Street

Sadly, planner and developer Art Cowie
never lived to see his dream project at West 33rd and Cambie completed. He died
during construction. However, his name will always be associated with the three
fee-simple rowhouses council eventually approved on what was once a
single-family-zoned property.

Ironically, his once-controversial
development, which also included rental coach houses above the garages, is now
dwarfed by a six-storey building to the north and other mid-rise buildings up
and down Cambie.

Cowie’s fee-simple townhouses are
significant in that they are not condominiums. Each is individually owned,
like a single-family home, with no strata fees.

One of his challenges in getting
approval was the city’s Law Department, which worried about the legality of the
proposed agreement for the shared party wall between units.

To address this legal concern, Cowie
eventually had to build two separate walls. However, Suzanne Anton, then a city
councillor, recognized the importance of this type of housing and convinced the
province to change legislation to facilitate more individually owned townhouses
in the future.

Larchwood, as viewed from the lane

On Larch
Street, just south of St Mary's Church on West 39th Avenue is a
development that seems to fit seamlessly with the surrounding Kerrisdale
‘Craftsman-style’ homes.

Completed in 2000, it
replaced seven single family lots with forty-five new townhomes ranging in size
from one to three bedrooms. Some were planned to appeal to young families;
others incorporated features that would be attractive to seniors. Designed by Ramsay Warden Architects and
developed by Intracorp, the development also included a full restoration of an
existing heritage home.Planning consultant Charles Brook recalls
that the initial proposal was furiously opposed by many neighbouring single
family homeowners, but supported by nearby high-rise residents seeking
alternative housing choices, and empty nesters ready to downsize in their
Kerrisdale neighbourhood.

Since the City of Vancouver had no policy to
allow rezonings in Kerrisdale, planning staff recommended the project be
approved as a neighbourhood demonstration project, an effective way to test out
a new planning concept.

Eventually all but one member of city
council agreed and today the development serves an attractive model of how low
density townhouses and stacked townhouses can be integrated into single family
neighbourhoods, away from busy arterial roads.

Today Hollyburn Mews in the 2000 Block of Esquimalt has been well-accepted by the surrounding West Vancouver neighbourhood

In West Vancouver, a five-year battle
preceded approval of six duplex homes and three coach houses on three
single-family lots across from West Vancouver United Church.

Over 150 people wrote letters in
opposition or spoke at the multiple-night public hearing. However, some local
residents were in favour and eventually the project — one of my own — was
approved by a narrow four-to-three council vote.

To improve the neighbourhood fit, each pair of duplexes was designed to
look like a large house. Unlike Vancouver’s laneway houses, the coach houses
were sold; one to a household with young children and the others to seniors
wanting to downsize.

Today, many planners and residents
have said they consider the Formwerks-designed Hollyburn Mews to be a good
model of in-fill housing and gentle densification, and one that has application
around the province.

The City of Kelowna recently included
it in a planning document illustrating how new low-rise housing can be
successfully integrated into single family neighbourhoods.

These case studies are not intended to
say that neighbourhood concerns over rezoning applications are never valid. On
the contrary, they often are.

However, in order to better assess the
validity of these concerns, it could be very valuable if planners,
neighbourhood organizations, and perhaps journalists carried out post-mortems
on controversial projects that did get built, in order to determine whether the
concerns materialized.

Is the building out of scale and
character? Did nearby property values drop as feared? Were there neighbourhood
traffic and parking problems?

Ongoing reviews of controversial
projects might help us all gain a better understanding of what to watch out for
in neighbourhood plans and rezoning applications.This in turn will help us accommodate future
changing housing needs in our communities.

2 comments:

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